Christmas time I had a cold and spent a day watching the History Channel. Of course, there wasn't anything about history on the History Channel, just like if you want to watch wrestling, you turn on the sy fy channel. Maybe 'syfy' is Martian for 'fake wrestling'.I'm not saying there isn't alien life on some distant planet. I'll even go as far as to say I wouldn't be surprised to discover we've had some alien visitors some time in our past. It could happen. Just because something might be possible doesn't mean any nut job with a bad haircut can claim to be an expert on ancient alien theory.Why is it when historians are debating if Jesus really existed, the four Gospels can't be considered proof because, hey, those guys might have made that all up; but if you want to prove ancient aliens existed everything in the Bible can be taken as -well, gospel?And why does anything that suggests aliens may have visited this planet automatically prove that God doesn't existed. The fact that aliens might have built the pyrimids doesn't mean that any outside intervention has to have come from aliens. That's like saying if you saw your brother mow your lawn once that means that only your brother has ever mowed your lawn and no one else has ever done it.Here's my conspiracy theory: Scientists are coming closer and closer to proving that God really does exist. They have discovered that we have all descended from one man and one woman. (But they are quick to say that wasn't Adam and Eve.) They are finding that we suddenly had an explosion of the mind. In a short period of time we developed language, tools, and farming. (This was caused by aliens messing with our DNA. OR Was it caused by Eve messing with a mind altering apple?)I think scientist are more comfortable with the idea that aliens altered our DNA to enslave us than with the idea that God is real.What if scientist did find absolute proof that a Biblical God exists? I'm not even sure that God would want that. After all, you don't need any faith if you have scientific proof.THEREFORE:It might not even be the scientists behind this conspiracy theory. Perhaps the Catholic Church is behind the Ancient Alien scare. The Pope DID recently say it was okay to believe in aliens!The plot thickens.....

Cool topic with lots of layers. I'll address only one of them. You state: "Why is it when historians are debating if Jesus really existed, the four Gospels can't be considered proof because, hey, those guys might have made that all up." Actually, many historians doubt the four gospels because they probably weren't written by "those guys." Forensic evidence shows that they were probably written about 400 years after the events they chronicle happened. Then come the problems with translations and idioms and all of the communication issues language is heir to. These seem to me far more likely to cast doubt on accurate biblical interperetation than alien conspiracies. Bottom line: the Bible, Torah, Quran, Book of Mormon. Bhagavad Gîtâ, and other sacred texts are based on faith. Faith is all they have to offer. For adherents, it's all that's needed.

Yeah, I get that the Gospels may not have been written by the apostles. But the ancient alien theorists assume the Gospels are proof that Jesus was 'alien affected' (Ha! I just coined that phrase). Therefore, according to them, Gabriel talked to Mary: poof! we have aliens! The Wise men follow a star: poof! We have aliens! I've even heard them claim that since Jesus was talking to someone during the crucifixion (As in 'Forgive then Father for they know not what they do.'), poof! He must have been talking to the mother ship.Now if you can't use the Gospels as a record that Jesus rose from the dead, how can you use them to prove that extra terrestrials were involved in the life of Christ?Don't get me wrong, I have an open mind on the existence of aliens. But either the Bible is a legitimate record or it isn't.By the way, my Jehovah's Witness friend is worried about me because he thinks no good can come from me watching all these shows about aliens.

Your point is well taken. Mine seems to be floundering. I was trying to emphasize that the faithful use sacred texts as a basis for their beliefs--no matter what those beliefs entail. The "alienists" you mention, I'm sure, have plenty to say about Eliahu's (Elijah's) "wheel within a wheel" and other UFO-like biblical phenomena. Empirical proof lies elsewhere and, probably, has no place in religious speculation. That's why I don't agree with your statement "either the Bible is a legitimate record or it isn't." I don't think it's as binary as that. Those who use the Bible to prove that the earth is only 6000 years old aren't interested in scientific evidence to the contrary. The same can be said for those who use biblical data to prove the existence and godhead of Christ. I'd guess that those who are using the Bible to prove the influence of aliens aren't really interested in science either. Does that invalidate their belief? Not at all. It simply confirms the power and importance of faith

My favorite 'proof' of alien abduction is found in the book, "Communion" by Whitney Shriever(if that is his name, I forget).The book states that people who dream about being abducted by aliens REALLY HAVE BEEN ABDUCTED. Their memory is erased but they recall it in a dream. Not only if they dream about aliens. If they dream about animals talking to them- it's aliens. If they dream someone came to their bedroom windows- it's aliens. Basically, if you dream anything that in any way reminds you of aliens- it's aliens.Last week I dreamt I had to help somebody with their physics homework. I was supposed to explain what this symbol meant. It was an A with an asterick or a daisey in the middle. That symbol was equal to a U with a curl on the first arm of it and a number, I think it was 237 in the inside of it. There was another symbol that was a Q with the line through the top left corner. I describe these symbols just in case I really was abducted and somebody knows what these symbols mean. If I really was abducted and somebody recognises said aliens, I have a message for them: DO YOUR OWN DANG HOMEWORK!Might I also remind them I dreamt of shooting an alien spaceship down when I was younger and that was only because they abducted me. I'm sure forcing an aboriginal life form to do your physics homework is a serious human rights violation.